R.I. Senate panel to consider bills that would tighten laws on stolen weapons

PROVIDENCE ó The Senate Judiciary Committee is to consider legislation on Tuesday that would tighten existing laws on stolen guns and firearms with altered ID marks, and set up a task force to guide the...

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By
AMANDA MILKOVITS
Posted Jun. 22, 2013 @ 12:01 am

PROVIDENCE ó The Senate Judiciary Committee is to consider legislation on Tuesday that would tighten existing laws on stolen guns and firearms with altered ID marks, and set up a task force to guide the state in submitting records on mental illness and substance abuse into background checks for firearm purchases.

The ďBehavioral Health and Firearms Safety Task ForceĒ was one of the bills in the gun-legislation package proposed by Governor Chafee, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, and House Speaker Gordon D. Fox in April.

The task force is intended to resolve a chronic problem that Rhode Island has never addressed. Although the state is lauded for requiring background checks for all firearm purchases, thereís no way of knowing whether a buyer should be barred due to mental illness.

Rhode Island is one of a few states that does not submit mental-health and substance-abuse records to the FBIís National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Known as NICS, the background checks are intended to prevent criminals or those with serious mental-health or substance-abuse problems from buying firearms.

Under the bill sponsored by Sen. Catherine Cool Rumsey, D-Exeter, on behalf of the governor, the task force would have to propose legislation and make recommendations by Jan. 1 to bring Rhode Island into compliance. The task force would be made up of legislators appointed by the governor, House speaker and Senate president, along with designees of the attorney general, state court administrator, directors of the state departments of public safety, environmental management, and behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals, the president of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association, the state mental health advocate, and two people representing mental health providers appointed by the House speaker and Senate president.

Another bill from the governorís legislative package targets those who carry stolen firearms. The bill sponsored by Sen. Adam J. Satchell, D-West Warwick, would increase the sentences to up to 15 years for those carrying a stolen firearm while committing a violent crime. The bill also includes a new section specifying that itís a felony to possess a stolen gun and includes sentences from three to 15 years. Anyone who gives false statements about the stolen gun would face a fine of up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison.

A bill proposed by Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, and introduced in February by Sen. Gayle Goldin, D-Providence, aims to tighten the law outlawing the possession of firearms with obliterated serial numbers.

While itís already illegal to alter the identifying numbers on firearms, itís difficult to prove that the person holding the gun is the one who obliterated the serial number. Under this bill, anyone who receives, transports or possesses such a firearm would be subject to up to five years in prison. The only exceptions would be antique and collectible firearms held by collectors or dealers.

A Senate spokesman said the remaining gun legislation proposed in April remains under consideration.